another 'need a recomendation' thread

T

THRESHIN

2[H]4U
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Sep 29, 2002
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another thread looking for a video card recomentation. some quick background - i had two 7900 GTO's in sli on water but i got too adventurous and killed one with voltmodding. the other one was successful but i get the odd freezing for half a second or so. every now and then the system locks under 3d load but thats rather rare. probably a side effect of the voltmod. stupid? yes. do i care? no. they're old enough for me to not give a damn.

my system is an opteron 165 OC'd to 2.8Ghz again on water. i'm still quite happy with it so i don't see the point in upgrading. the mobo is the asus A8N32-SLI. also PSU is the corsair 620HX so i should have plenty of juice.

i'm not looking for the latest and the greatest. i'm looking to spend around $200 give or take. my case can't take a card any longer than a 7900 GTX/GTO and i don't have the money to replace it.

my first thought was to get a pair of evga 9800 GT's from NCIX (canadian here so no newegg plz). they seem to fit the bill and if i wait for a sale they're barely over $100 CAN each. evga is nice because i can put my water blocks on without voiding the warranty.

SO my question is for my given system would this be a decent setup? i don't give a damn about crysis/warhead either so top notch performance isn't a problem. or should i invest that money into a single card solution? what about jumping ship to ati for say a 4830 and overclocking the shit out of it? puts my sli out in the cold however...

anyone? thanks for the help.

**EDIT: before i forget, using a 24" monitor @ 1920x1200 so a good resolution is a must here**
 
yup there is a newegg.ca but sad truth is it stinks. the prices are nowhere near what NCIX offers. plus it gets around provincial taxes :D NCIX is in BC i'm in ontario. that saves me 8% provincial tax. YAY!

budget is roughly $200 CAN yes. i'm willing to go up a bit if worthwhile, and i can also hold out for a month or two as well. moving into a house so i have lots to do without my PC for a little while...until i start going into L4D withdrawl LOL
 
check these out,

ASUS EAH4870 DK TOP/HTDI/512MD5 Radeon HD 4870 512MB $218.74 - $30 mir

HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB $174.99 - $10 mir

Powercolor Radeon HD 4850 512MB $179.99 - $15 mir

EVGA E-GEFORCE 9800GTX+ SC 756MHZ 512MB $178.88 - $20 mir

Im editing this because I forgot to link you to a great Canadian resource for you.

www.shopbot.ca just search for 4870 1gband it will show you tonnes of different e-retailers that have what your looking for.

this one is a local shop here in Toronto,
SAPPHIRE RADEON HD 4830 512MB $129.00
 
hossdaddy - thanks for the links. so you think that grabbing a single 4850/4870 would be a better deal even taking into account the possibility of an SLI 9800 GT system? i'll definitely give these a look though, great stuff:)

DeadSkull - learn how to read
 
yea like i said i can be flexible with the price especially as this doesnt have to be immediate. is the 260GTX any longer than a 7900 GTX/GTO? i thought it was, but been wrong before:p

i can wait until the price drops with the 4870 just fine and ncix does weekly sales which can also help out from time to time. i'm just wondering if sacrificing sli is worth it for going with the 4870 is all...

and yes i agree if its a small amount more and it performs much better i'm game.
 
so...from what i've looked up so far....a 4830 can give a 9800GT a run for its money!?!? thats...surprising? so maybe a 4870 is the way to go for now.
 
well you have to look at your lcd 24" and the native resolution will challenge most cards. Going with a really strong single card is a great way to go. Sli.cf does not show great improvements in all titles, if they did not program the game to take advantage of that then you would probably be disappointed. I used to run an sli setup and dumped it for a solid singled card solution. Any of the ones we have discussed will get the job done, personally I would say get the best one you can now so you will get the best performance for the long run. For that I would grab a 4870 1gb or a gtx260. www.Newegg.ca seems to have the best deals on the 260's right now but unfortunately their shipping charges bump them up to locally bought which avoid shipping and are close by. NCIX is pushing out some nice deals on the 260's but becareful most of their great "deals" are on the 192core version not the 216core(you ideally want 216core).
 
i have to say i'm leaning towards the 4870 1GB as i can get it for about $275 CAN which is a reasonable deal. however, i'm wondering if an overclocked 4830 pushing around the 4850 would keep me just as happy while saving me near $150...its something to think about for sure.
 
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